For many years the primary mission of the Marshall European Center for Security Studies, according to director John P. Rose, was to assist Eastern European and Eurasian military and government officials to comprehend life without dictatorships after the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union.

"Ten years ago we taught 'Democracy 101,'" Rose told reporters today at the National Press Club.

However, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the retired Army brigadier general observed, caused the center to broaden its focus.

"We have got to change to meet the security environment that we live in," Rose asserted, noting there is "no question about the fact that the events of 9/11 radically changed that."

In fact, center deputy director Winfried Dunkel noted the facility will debut its first resident counterterrorism course June 25, 2004. The five-week course, the retired German army major general explained, will bring together counterterrorism experts from across Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Dunkel said the new course will help "to internationalize" discussions on how to deter terrorism as the anti-terror experts, including input from Germany and the United States, share their viewpoints and ideas.

The course will "cover a variety of different aspects involving terrorism and countering terrorism," Rose pointed out, including warfighting, financial, and information assurance elements.

The Marshall Center, dedicated June 5, 1993, was created to foster democratic ideas and effect stability across post- Cold War Europe. The center is named after U.S. Gen. George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff during World War II and afterward secretary of state.

The U.S.-backed Marshall Plan helped Europe to economically revive itself after the destruction of World War II.